Long-serving commissioner passes away

From left, the Lenoir County Boys & Girls Club selected Gary Black, Marguerite Whitfield and Tim Pate as its 2010 Legacy Award winners for outstanding service and contributions on Oct. 21, 2010 at Select Foods. Whitfield passed away on Sunday.

Janet S. Carter / The Free Press

By David Anderson / Staff Writer

Published: Monday, January 14, 2013 at 10:36 PM.

Marguerite G. Whitfield, who spent 12 years on the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners — and served on the boards of a number of other community organizations — passed away Sunday at the age of 85.

Whitfield, who lived in the Moss Hill community, came from a farming background. Her late husband Melvin was also a local farmer.

Friends and colleagues remembered her for her devotion to agriculture, as well as education, youth programs, and health and nutrition.

“It will be a great loss for this community,” said former Commissioner Isabelle Fletcher Perry. “She certainly did a lot during her lifetime, especially during the later years when she was a county commissioner.”

Perry, 95, is the county’s first female commissioner, and served from 1978 to 1986. Whitfield served on the board from 1992 to 2004.

The two women also served on the county and state Extension and Community Associations, which are boards of residents who support programs and events put on by Cooperative Extension offices.

“We both were very active in the county and the state level as well,” Perry recalled.

Marguerite G. Whitfield, who spent 12 years on the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners — and served on the boards of a number of other community organizations — passed away Sunday at the age of 85.

Whitfield, who lived in the Moss Hill community, came from a farming background. Her late husband Melvin was also a local farmer.

Friends and colleagues remembered her for her devotion to agriculture, as well as education, youth programs, and health and nutrition.

“It will be a great loss for this community,” said former Commissioner Isabelle Fletcher Perry. “She certainly did a lot during her lifetime, especially during the later years when she was a county commissioner.”

Perry, 95, is the county’s first female commissioner, and served from 1978 to 1986. Whitfield served on the board from 1992 to 2004.

The two women also served on the county and state Extension and Community Associations, which are boards of residents who support programs and events put on by Cooperative Extension offices.

“We both were very active in the county and the state level as well,” Perry recalled.

They served at different times, though — Whitfield was a past president of the county and state ECAs.

“She was very supportive of the Extension and all the work we do,” Trudy Pickett, family and consumer education agent, said Monday. “In fact, she would bring us little Christmas goodies every year.”

Pickett said Whitfield came by the Extension as recently as about three weeks ago, faithfully bringing Christmas cheer to the staff.

Extension Director Tammy Kelly, who has been at her post since 2003, said Whitfield was “always interested in staying young and staying healthy,” and kept up with Extension articles about healthy eating.

“She used to call me every week, practically,” Kelly said. “If I wrote an article about flaxseed, she wanted to know more about it.”

N.C. Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir, who was elected to the General Assembly in 2012 after 30 years as a commissioner, said he and Whitfield “worked together several years, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with her; I learned a lot.”

Graham added: “She primarily was concerned with education, good schools with good learning centers for our youth, and she would always be excited on the opening day of the tobacco market.”

Graham noted Whitfield was devoted to her family as well.

“She was a very special mother and grandmother,” he said. “She was just very special in nurturing those relationships.”

County Manager Mike Jarman was the county tax administrator during the majority of Whitfield’s three terms on the Board of Commissioners.

“I enjoyed working with her,” Jarman said. “She cared deeply about the county and the community and she was a strong supporter of the employees.”

Whitfield was also known for her devotion to local youth — she served as a guardian ad litem, advocating for children going through the court system, and was a board member of the Lenoir County Boys & Girls Club.

She, along with fellow board members Gary Black and Tim Pate, received a Legacy Award from the Club in 2010.

“It is very humbling, and it means a lot to know that they would recognize me, even though I do not feel like I deserve it,” she said after that 2010 ceremony. “To know that I can help one child, that would be enough for me.”

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or David.Anderson@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at DavidFreePress.